|
Thingummies overlooking my parking spot across US 70 at Haw River. Nah,
I’ve no idea.
|
Why, yes I did need a rigorous geocaching adventure for today. There was a
relatively new cache — “
Can’t Hold Me Back” (
GC93Y4W) — along the
Haw River in
Alamance County, just north of
Burlington that looked promising, so I decided to make my way over
yonder. The cache listing shows a set of parking coordinates, but they are quite
remote, and I knew that legitimate roadside parking exists nearer the trailhead.
However, that area turned out to be so muddy I feared I might end up needing
AAA
if I dared plant the Rodan Mobile there. When caching in this area a few years
back, I had parked along US 70, near the southern end of the Haw River Trail, so
I drove down to that location to see whether it appeared usable. It did, so
I went for it. Across the road, there were thingummies watching me. No idea what
they are about. Anyway, parking there shaves a wee bit of mileage off the hike, but
what I saved in distance, I more than made up for in terrain difficulty....
Do you remember drought? At times like this, I recollect it fondly. The Haw
is running high, fast, and hard, and there is flooding all around the trail.
Before I even reached Boyd’s Creek, a fair-size stream that
intersects the trail — today quite swollen — I had achieved the rank of Major Muddy
Mess. The creek looked to be about waist-deep, so I went upstream a
quarter mile or so and found a big log to use as a makeshift bridge. I
stayed dry, but given the added distance, I resolved that, on the way back,
I would attempt the water crossing.
|
My makeshift bridge across Boyd’s Creek
|
At ground zero, I found the cache in good order. My pen didn’t much want to
write, but I managed to get my signature on the log. About the time I
started back toward the Rodan Mobile, I saw several deer grazing nearby.
Then began the gunshots at frighteningly close range. I hadn’t thought to
wear blaze orange (something to consider in this area during hunting
season), so I made my egress from the area wildly waving my hiking stick and
whistling Ennio Morricone’s “Ecstasy of the Gold” from
The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly soundtrack at very high
volume.
Back at Boyd’s Creek, I bit the bullet and made the water crossing. Someone
had been kind enough to tie a rope across the creek, which is the only
reason I didn’t end up totally submerged, for those unseen rocks down there
are slickery. Happily, the water was only knee-deep, rather than waist-deep.
|
Boyd’s Creek water crossing, outbound; nice that someone has tied a
rope across the water
|
|
Boyd’s Creek water crossing, inbound: chilly!
|
I was relieved to finally reach the Rodan Mobile, although it was not at all
happy to see me, since I was covered in more mud than Lon Chaney as the mummy
after sinking in quicksand at the end of The Mummy’s Ghost.
So, this outing proved rather more invigorating than I had expected. Although
I did let loose a colorful metaphor or two along my trek, I can’t say I didn’t
have fun. So, to the cache owner, all my appreciation for the new geocache and
the opportunity for another adventure!
|
The Haw River: very high, very fast
|
|
An awful lot of this...
|
|
...and very few of these.
|
